Forms of Astonishment

Greek Myths of Metamorphosis

Richard Buxton

Use of comparative material, from other religious traditions, from science, literature, cinema, and computer graphics, enables readers to relate the Greek imagination to the modern world

Includes analysis, from an original perspective, of some of the best-known works of Greek literature

All quotations from Greek and other languages have been translated into English

Forms of Astonishment

Greek Myths of Metamorphosis

Richard Buxton

Description

Forms of Astonishment sets out to interpret a number of Greek myths about the transformations of humans and gods. Such tales have become familiar in their Ovidian dress, as in the best-selling translation by Ted Hughes; Richard Buxton explores their Greek antecedents. One pressing question which often occurs to the reader of these tales is: Did the Greeks take them seriously? Buxton repeatedly engages with this topic, and attempts to answer it context by context and author by author. His book raises issues relevant to an understanding of broad aspects of Greek culture (e.g. how 'strange' were Greek beliefs?'); in so doing, it also illuminates issues explored by anthropologists and students of religion.